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SHANGHAI, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, 10 May: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will intensify efforts to reduce poverty in the Asian and Pacific region, said Brahm Prakash, Director of ADB's Poverty Reduction and Social Development Division, today at a press briefing on the opening day of ADB's 35th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors.
ADB will access new theme-focused poverty reduction funds, develop new lending and assistance products, link with more development partners, reach the poor more effectively through community-based organizations, and improve new business procedures, he said.
ADB will also have access to more grant funds for poverty reduction. "The Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), amounting to US$245 million, has already helped ADB address poverty reduction more directly and innovatively," he said.
"The use of grant funds instead of only loans opens up opportunities for ADB to undertake mini pilot projects for poverty reduction in poorer countries. Successful pilot projects will not only help in transforming the design of ADB's loans but also in being replicated in large-scale loan projects," he said.
In addition, bilateral donors such as The Netherlands and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development have either set up, or are in the process of setting up, poverty reduction funds in ADB, said Mr. Prakash. Discussions are also ongoing to set up more theme-focused grant funds, such as an environment-poverty reduction fund and a gender-poverty reduction fund.
"These grant funds have greatly enhanced ADB's ability to work closely with nongovernment organizations, civil society organizations, women's organizations, youth groups, and the informal sector," said Mr. Prakash.
"Loan proposals for 2002 and 2003, which are being prepared after the signing of the Poverty Reduction Partnership Agreements between ADB and the individual developing member countries, will address poverty reduction more effectively."
ADB adopted its Poverty Reduction Strategy in November 1999, and has since been putting in place various arrangements for its implementation.
Mr. Prakash said that, in 2001, the first year that reflected ADB's new emphasis on poverty reduction in developing Asia and the Pacific, about 29 percent of public loans directly addressed poverty reduction. "If one includes the likely contribution of infrastructure projects, and policy-based lending toward poverty reduction, the percentage of public loans devoted toward poverty reduction is much larger," Mr. Prakash said.
He noted that development analysts widely acknowledge that deficiencies in infrastructure and the absence of appropriate policy frameworks are often the main causes of large-scale systemic poverty.
In pursuing ADB's overarching goal of poverty reduction, ADB underwent a reorganization effective from January 2002. This is another factor in achieving poverty reduction as the former Programs and Projects departments have been merged to produce a more country-focused perspective critical for addressing crosscutting issues like poverty reduction.
For example, South Asia - home to the largest number of poor in the world - now has a separate South Asia Regional Department. The presence of professionals with different disciplines in a single regional department is expected to enhance ADB's problem-solving ability and render its poverty reduction efforts more effective, he said.
By establishing a Regional and Sustainable Development Department under its new organizational structure, ADB is also placing more emphasis on policy development, quality control, and monitoring implementation, said Mr. Prakash.